Saturday, December 26, 2009

A walnut pâté is slowly making its way through several experimental iterations to a state of what I hope to be blogworthiness; part of its problem being the amount of oil exuded by finely grinding walnuts in a food processor and then adding this mayonnaise as a binding agent in the correct increments. It's turning out to be quite a process.

The mayonnaise, however, turned out darn-near perfect on my first try.

In fact, I'm roasting a turkey today just so I can make turkey salad and lettuce roll-ups using this mayonnaise. Maybe that will turn into a better recipe than the finicky pâté.

I do have to give my friend Erika, who recently sent me fresh English walnuts from her backyard trees, all the credit: Long ago she shared with me her recipe for almond-herb pâté which I made just once, the recipe lounging in my old yellow recipe box for lo these ensuing years, only to be brought out recently and made to morph into a walnut version.

Well, why not? I had a plethora of beautiful walnuts and thought the pâté would be a great homage to her generosity and life long friendship.

The pâté recipe calls for a mayonnaise binder. So why not make my own mayonnaise and useroasted walnut oil ?

Why not, indeed. Here you go.

Assembling your ingredients prior to beginning is key to the success of this recipe. Have your oils separated into measuring cups in the order and amounts that you will use them. This is more lucidly explained in the preparation instructions. Also very important is to have all your ingredients at room temperature.

Patience is another key to making your own mayonnaise: Even though I used a blender, it still took about 10 minutes and a steady hand to achieve perfection. Well, perfection is aggrandizing it a bit, but you know what I mean.

Home Made Walnut Oil MayonnaiseAdapted from Joy of Cooking (print recipe)Ingredients:
1 whole egg (room temperature)
1 teaspoon fine kosher salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/16 teaspoon Splenda (from a packet) or 1/2 teaspoon sugar if you don't like Splenda
small pinch cayenne pepper (optional) (I do mean small; a few grains really.)
3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
1/2 cup good extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 cup toasted walnut oilPreparation:Place the first 5 ingredients in a blender along with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and blend on high until fully combined.
With the blender running on high, slowly add 1/2 cup of the walnut oil. The oil should be drizzled into the blender in a thin stream that slows down to droplets at times. Never pour the oil in faster than a very thin stream or it may break down and become more liquid. (If that happens, please consult the Joy of Cooking cookbook; that's what I did.) I know, I'm not very helpful sometimes.
Stopping the blender occasionally to scrape down the sides is perfectly fine.
With the blender still on high speed, slowly add the lemon juice, then the rest of the walnut oil (1/4 cup), then the last 1/4 cup olive oil, maintaining a thin stream of oil all the while.
Your result should be a light and somewhat fluffy mayonnaise.
Store in a covered glass container in your refrigerator. Stir it occasionally for the first hour or so, allowing the mixture to chill thoroughly and evenly.Cook's Notes:I can just imagine this mayonnaise slathered on two pieces of really great bread that have been piled high with roasted turkey and topped with a few leaves of arugula. Sadly, I haven't mastered the art of wheat-free breads just yet but I am trying.

I did some research, in the form of visiting my local markets, about the ingredients in store bought mayonnaise. I checked the lables on Best Foods and Spectrum organic and found both of them to have added sugars. Since I am trying my darndest to eat added sugar-free, that's when I decided to make my own. Ten minutes out of your day isn't much to have a product that you know is the best it can be in terms of what goes into it.

Ed Note (10-5-10): Haven't made the pâté yet, but seeing and correcting typos on this post has brought it back to the fore of my brain. Let's see what I can come up with. Thanks to Janet for leaving a comment and bringing this to my attention.

Thanks for posting this. I ate the best sandwich of my life this past weekend and it had a toasted walnut mayonnaise on it. I was pretty sure it was made with walnut oil so your recipe sounds close to how I imagined it. With the addition of some finely chopped toasted walnuts, of course.

The sandwich was grilled chicken breast, sliced Granny Smith apples, field greens, and walnut mayo on a baguette. So good!